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Rolling Stone July-August 1984

"The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson" is a short story written by author Stephen King. It was first published in the July-August, 1984 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. It was later collected in the anthology volume, I Shudder at Your Touch, which featured stories of "sex and horror" by multiple authors. Elements of the story were recycled for King's 1987 novel The Tommyknockers, which was later adapted into a television miniseries in 1993.

The story was fully adapted as episode 3x15 of the 1995 relaunch of the sci-fi anthology series The Outer Limits, which was also titled, "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson". In the episode, actress Catherine O'Hara played the role of the protagonist, Becka Paulson, John Diehl as her adulterous husband, Joe, and Steven Weber as the well-dressed unnamed individual on the TV set, 8x10 Man.

The premise of the tale involves a housewife, Becka Paulson, who is watching a soap opera on television when she accidentally shoots herself in the head. Becka survives, but suffers from brain damage, which yields strange mental and psychological side effects. She begins seeing the image of a framed picture of Jesus atop her television set, which begins speaking to her. In The Outer Limits episode, the persona of Jesus is replaced with an unnamed figure that is actually on the television.

In The Tommyknockers miniseries, Becka Paulson is a Sheriff's deputy and is played by actress Allyce Beasley. As in the novel, her character gains her special talents after being exposed to an invisible alien gas given off by the race referred to as the Havenites. This is a strong departure from the original short story, which did not yield any reasoning behind her condition other than brain damage.

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